By Perfecto T. Raymundo Jr. / Philippines News Agency
TERROR Alert Level 3 was raised nationwide after the arrest of two suspected terrorists allegedly behind the foiled bombing attempt at the US Embassy in Manila on Monday.
In a news conference in Camp Rafael Crame, Quezon City, on Thursday, the National Police chief, Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa, said that, because of the full- alert status, the public should expect a stricter implementation of security measures, especially on the conduct of random and mobile checkpoints.
“Full alert” in the police is the equivalent of red alert in the military. When that alert status is raised, all personnel are required to be on duty round the clock and all leaves and furloughs are cancelled.
Dela Rosa also advised the public to be “alert, vigilant and observant” but not to “panic.”
He said the public has nothing to be worried about, even if the Terror Alert Level 3 is raised nationwide.
Dela Rosa also issued directives to the regional police directors to intensify security measures in highly urbanized cities.
Meanwhile, authorities are hunting down three more suspects in the failed US Embassy bombing on Monday, following the arrest of two suspects on Wednesday, one of them in Bulacan.
However, two of the three remaining suspects may have already returned to Marawi City in Lanao del Sur, where the military is currently clearing the town of Butig, also in the province, from the Maute Group.
Dela Rosa said the suspects, who are still at large, were called by their colleagues by phone to come home and help in warding off the ongoing operations by soldiers in Lanao del Sur.
Four of the suspects, including those two arrested on Wednesday, were confirmed members of the Maute Group, according to dela Rosa during a news conference on Thursday.
The last of the five suspects is a member of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
“As of now, we presume the three have already gone back to Mindanao, but there is a slim chance that they might still be here. The hunt is continuing,” dela Rosa said.
A joint team from the Manila Police District and the Bulacan police arrested Rayson Kilala, 34, of 92 Bagumbayan, Bulakan, Bulacan, on Wednesday.
Kilala, who also goes with his Moro name “Rashid Kilala,” was captured at around 9:30 a.m.
The other suspect was identified as Jiaher Guinar.
Dela Rosa said Rasid is a recruit to the Islamic faith and a religious preacher in Bulacan. He was allegedly the one who placed the homemade bomb inside a trash bin while Guinar was assigned as the trigger man.
Rasid himself admitted that their first target was Luneta Park, but they were “bothered by our conscience” and, instead planted the bomb near the US Embassy.
The suspects’ three accomplices transported the bomb from Central Mindanao to Metro Manila, dela Rosa said.
He said the two suspects are members of the Ansar Khalifa group, which has direct links with the Maute gang.
With Rene Acosta and Catherine Joy L. Maglalang